The Biologic Show
Encyclopedia
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series written and drawn by Al Columbia
Al Columbia
Al Columbia is an American cartoonist, illustrator, writer, photographer, musician, and filmmaker.-Big Numbers controversy:At the age of 19 Columbia was hired to work as an assistant to Bill Sienkiewicz on Alan Moore's Big Numbers series...
and published by Fantagraphics Books
Fantagraphics Books
Fantagraphics Books is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, magazines, graphic novels, and the adult-oriented Eros Comix imprint...
. The first issue, #0, was released in 1994, and a second issue, #1, was released a year later. An issue #2 was solicited in Previews
Diamond Comic Distributors
Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. is the largest comic book distributor serving North America. They transport comic books from both big and small comic book publishers, or suppliers, to the retailers. Diamond dominates the direct market in the United States, and has exclusive arrangements with most...
and announced in the pages of other Fantagraphics publications but was never published.
The comic's title is taken from a passage in the William S. Burroughs
William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th...
book Exterminator!
Exterminator!
Exterminator! is a short story collection written by William S. Burroughs and first published in 1973. Early editions label the book a novel)....
(in the chapter "Short Trip Home"). The passage is briefly quoted at the beginning of the story "The Biologic Show" in issue #0, one of several references to Burroughs in Columbia's early work.
Each issue of The Biologic Show contains several short stories and illustrated poems. #0 introduces three of Columbia's recurring characters: the hapless, Koko the Clown
Koko the Clown
Koko the Clown was an animated character created by animation pioneer Max Fleischer. The character originated when Max Fleischer invented the rotoscope, a device that allowed for animation to be more lifelike by tracing motion picture footage of human movement. To test out his new invention...
-like Seymour Sunshine in the opening comic "No Tomorrow If I Must Return" and the brother/sister duo Pim and Francie in "Tar Frogs" (a story which first appeared in the UK magazine Deadline
Deadline magazine
Deadline was a British comic magazine published between 1988 and 1995.Created by 2000 AD stalwarts Brett Ewins and Steve Dillon, Deadline featured a mix of comic strips and written articles targeted at older readers...
). Issue #1 is dominated by the 16-page "Peloria: Part One", intended as the first installment of a never-completed graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
. It introduces a third character, Knishkebibble the Monkey-Boy, who reappears in Columbia's later comics.
Much of the material in The Biologic Show deals with unsettling subject matter such as mutilation
Mutilation
Mutilation or maiming is an act of physical injury that degrades the appearance or function of any living body, usually without causing death.- Usage :...
, incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
, and the occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
. Kieron Gillen has characterized the series as "comics transgression
Transgressional fiction
Transgressive fiction is a genre of literature that focuses on characters who feel confined by the norms and expectations of society and who break free of those confines in unusual and/or illicit ways. Because they are rebelling against the basic norms of society, protagonists of transgressional...
in its purest form."
Reactions to the series were mixed. One critic dismissed issue #0 as "an array of senselessness ... transparent as a ghost and feigning substance"; another called it "a big, visceral, messy masterwork". It was also highly praised by other alternative comics
Alternative comics
Alternative comics defines a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to "mainstream" superhero comics which in the past have dominated the US comic book industry...
creators including Mike Allred and Jim Woodring
Jim Woodring
Jim Woodring is a Seattle-based cartoonist, comic book author, artist and toy designer. He also produces fine art works in a variety of other media, including painting and charcoal....
.
Along with his stories printed in Zero Zero
Zero Zero (comic)
Zero Zero is an alternative comics anthology that was published by Fantagraphics Books from 1995 to 2000. It was notable among comics anthologies for the number of serialized works that appeared in its pages, including Richard Sala's "The Chuckling Whatsit", Dave Cooper's "Crumple", Mack White's...
and BLAB!, the two issues of The Biologic Show are some of Columbia's best-known and most-acclaimed works. They are also among his most readily obtainable comics due to multiple reprint
Reprint
A reprint is a re-publishing of material that has already been previously published. The word reprint is used in many fields.-Academic publishing:...
ings.
Issue #0
- "No Tomorrow If I Must Return Starring Seymour Sunshine"
- "Self-Titled Instructional Version" (aka "The Biologic Show")
- "Grinding Larry"
- "Over"
- "Extinction"
- "The Low-Born Peacock"
- "Li'l Saint Anthony"
- "Bruja"
- "Tar Frogs: A Pim and Francie Adventure"
Issue #1
- "Peloria: Part One (A Pim and Francie Adventure)"
- Seymour Sunshine Debris
- "Slow Machine"
- "Castigian"
- "The Hellbound Bellydancer"
- "Ersatz (A Family Name)"